A former radio journalist and social worker, Jodi Cartwright recently answered her next calling in life: to serve as the leader of Dowagiac’s First United Methodist Church.

Cartwright, a native of Colorado and longtime resident of the Lansing area, took over as pastor of the church, located at 326 N. Lowe St., at the beginning of the month. She presided over her first service with the congregation on Sunday.

Any concerns she may have had that the members of First United would reject her evaporated as soon as stepped through her new home, the church’s parsonage, late last month. She discovered that the congregation had stocked her kitchen’s pantry with food, and that, due to the fact her furniture was still in transit, they had installed some temporary furnishings, such as a card table and folding bed for her to use.

“I’ve just felt incredibly welcomed,” Cartwright said. “The congregation is really caring and engaged in the community.”

The warm reception is just one of the signs that things have fallen into place for the new pastor, whose assignment to First United Methodist is her first pastorate.

Cartwright first came to Michigan by way of Durango, Colorado. While her faith was important to she and her family growing up, she studied English and communication Fort Lewis College in her hometown to pursue a career in journalism. She managed to land her first job before she graduated with a Durango news radio station, KDGO.

“One day, I walked into the radio station and asked if they had any internships available,” she said. “A few minutes later, I found myself co-hosting the morning broadcast.”

Cartwright worked for several stations during her stint as a news reporter and director, from 1989 to 1994. She later began working in social services, assisting people receiving aid from the government.

It was through her children that she rekindled her passion in her faith. When they began to attend Sunday school and vacation bible camp, Cartwright decided to volunteer to help teach the programs.

In 2005, she and her family relocated to the Lansing area. Cartwright became even more involved with her church in Okemos, a small community near East Lansing, as she joined the church’s administration board. In 2009, she and a few others with the church traveled overseas for a missionary trip to Nicaragua, where they helped the locals develop a more sustainable agriculture system, she said.

After returning to the U.S., she and the rest of the missionaries were asked to deliver a short talk on what they had learned during the trip. In spite of her initial anxiety about speaking to her entire congregation, Cartwright discovered she was a natural behind the pulpit, which sparked her desire to want to pastor herself.

“I discovered I really like doing this, and that I have things I want to say,” she said. “I have an understanding of the Gospel that I want others to hear.”

For the past three years, Cartwright has studied at Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. While she is 15 credit hours shy of finishing her education, last fall she asked for a pastoral assignment. In April, she was informed that she would take over leadership of First United Methodist in Dowagiac.

While managing her duties with her new congregation, Cartwright plans to travel to Evanston once a week to finish her studies, at which point she will become officially ordained, she said.

In the meantime, she said she is looking forward to building on the positive attitude of her new congregation, and hopes to build its ranks in the coming years.

“I expect I’m going to love this job,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to what God has in store for us next.”